


If I Ever Get the Nerve

by FakePlasticSnow



Series: Yuri Plisetsky vs. Adulting [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Domestic Fluff, Earn Your Happy Ending, Engagement, Established Relationship, Five Years Later, Flashbacks, Fluff and Humor, Living Together, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Time Skips, Yurio finally becomes well-adjusted huzzah, aged-up Yuri and Otabek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-26 06:52:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9872381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FakePlasticSnow/pseuds/FakePlasticSnow
Summary: "Thinking Out Loud didnotlend itself well to a club mix, so corny speech it is."Proposing was intimidating enough on its own, but how the fuck was one supposed to propose to Yuri "Married People Suck" Plisetsky? While coming up with 15 reasons to convince him, Otabek looks back on the last five years.(Otayuri Week, Day 3: Coming of Age)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Works as a standalone, but takes place five years after the how-they-got-together (and how-Yuri-grew-the-fuck-up) story [_Here's to the Mess We Make_](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9452627).
> 
> Title is from that one wedding song that's not "Thinking Out Loud." Fic inspired by these two songs:
> 
>   * ["The Next Ten Minutes"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bWGjUKyffM)
>   * ["Run Away with Me"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_px7efsAXsI) (helped me write out that "adorably nervous, sweetly in love" vibe)
> 


>   _03.05.2021_
> 
> _This is not as cool as spontaneously coming up with the perfect words to say in front of you, but I have to write this speech down because even after five years, you still leave me tongue-tied._
> 
> _~~I really suck at this~~ I'm not good with words, but I couldn't think of a decent way to DJ a proposal for you ("Thinking Out Loud" did NOT lend itself well to a club mix), so corny speech it is. Viktor suggested I arrange a flash mob, but I don't think he understood that my goal is to get a fiancé, not a black eye. Your grandfather suggested I bake the ring into a pirozhki, but I've seen the way you eat pirozhki and I didn't want you to end up in the ER._
> 
> _I know you think_

Sensing movement from the doorway, Otabek dropped the pen and hid the paper in a desk drawer.

"Oh, it's just you, Irina," he sighed when the cat walked in. He reached down and scratched her head. "You were supposed to stand guard at the front door in case he came home early. Serves me right for trusting the same cat who likes to sit on my keyboard when I'm trying to do homework, I guess."

He took the small, black box out of his pocket and walked over to the closet to hide it in a box of old CDs. This nightly ritual of his formed over the past two weeks. When Otabek bought the ring, he assumed it would be simple: all he had to do was ask the man he'd spent every day with if he wanted to keep doing the same thing indefinitely. But at the breakfast table the next morning, he botched his first attempt. He planned to say "Hey, wanna get married?" while sliding the box over, but when Yuri looked up, heartbreakingly adorable even with morning hair and a mouth full of cereal, Otabek choked on the words.

He thought about asking after training the next day, but he didn't want to associate the proposal with the smell of a sweaty locker room.

He tried again at the park the day after that. Upon noticing the people jogging past them, he realized that if he said something dumb, he'd have a huge audience for it. "Hey, wanna get married" was so not going to cut it.

A week later, he made a reservation at the nicest bistro in town, but as he reached for the box in his pocket, Yuri scoffed "Married people suck" and went on a rant about Viktor and Yuuri's stupid Snapchat story about their stupid annual trip to Disneyland with their stupid kid. A sinking feeling grew in the pit of Otabek's stomach as he stared at Yuri. Proposing was intimidating enough on its own, but how the fuck was one supposed to propose to _Yuri Plisetsky?_

Which brought Otabek to this evening, trying to write a speech the old-fashioned way. He took the paper back out and picked up his pen.

> _I know you think married people suck, but I think you and I can still be cool even if we get married. We can do motorcycle stunts over flaming dumpsters at the wedding and party in Amsterdam or Ibiza for the honeymoon. And even if we didn't do any of that and just had a normal wedding instead, you'll always be cool to me._
> 
> _I want to marry you. You're my best friend and the strongest person I know._

Otabek realized he wanted to marry Yuri three years ago. One summer night, walked into Yuri's bedroom to find clothes, shoes, and books strewn everywhere. In the middle of the mess stood Yuri, frantically stuffing everything in sight into suitcases and boxes.

"Pack your shit," Yuri ordered.

"But I'm not flying back to Almaty for another three weeks."

"Dedushka's doctor called. He's in the hospital." He held the suitcase down with his knee and struggled to zip it closed. "I booked two tickets to Moscow. Flight's in three hours. Yakov knows a coach there, and I can ask Mila to FedEx the rest of my shit…"

"Does your grandfather know any of this?"

"No." Yuri looked up at him. "Are you moving to Moscow with me or what?"

Otabek walked over to start folding his clothes.

Yuri's grandfather was, of course, every bit as stubborn as Yuri even while bedridden and hooked up to a beeping monitor, but his arguments about not interfering with Yuri's career were repeatedly interrupted by "I'm taking care of you and that's that." Yuri gripped Otabek's hand as he argued with his grandfather, so Otabek couldn't leave the room even if he wanted to. He watched Yuri, honored to witness Yuri's love at its fiercest, and he'd never felt luckier to love someone who was so steadfast in the most difficult times.

At his desk, Otabek re-read the sappy "best friend" sentence and scratched it out. Mushy words wouldn't be enough to win over someone as strong-willed as Yuri. Otabek needed bulletproof, well-founded arguments.

> _~~I want to marry you. You're my best friend, and the strongest person I know.~~ _
> 
> _REASONS YOU SHOULD MARRY OTABEK:_
> 
>   1. _~~I'm a better cook than you~~ I have mastered your grandpa's pirozhki recipe and earned his seal of approval after months of practice_
> 


Probably not a good idea to start the list with something that would spark Yuri's competitive instinct. After their first kiss, Yuri resented the fact that Otabek was a better kisser than him and insisted on them "practicing" until his skills caught up with Otabek's. It was the most dizzying and torturous week of Otabek's life.

>   1. _I clean up Irina's litterbox more often than you do and I've never complained about it._
>   2. _Tax benefits._
>   3. _You hate doing taxes. I can do our taxes. I was the best student in my accounting class and you always make me calculate the restaurant tips whenever we go out to dinner._
>   4. _I will stay in bed and hold you whenever you're sick, and I swear I won't tell anyone that you like being cuddled when you're sick._
>   5. _I keep accidentally referring to you as "my husband" when I check in at hotels and airports._
>   6. _Our rinkmates keep referring to you as my husband._
>   7. _You really like my biceps. Why not make them your husband's biceps?_
> 


Otabek smirked as he remembered the previous night. Yuri _really_ liked his biceps. And his butt.

>   1. _You hate it when other people hit on me. They will hit on me less if I'm wearing a ring._
>   2. _You know that hot, adorable face you make when you come? I will keep making you make that face even when we're 70 and our knees have gone to shit._
>   3. _I will be in the front row yelling "davai" at every competition, even when we're 70._
> 


"Davai" had been a habit of theirs since Barcelona, but the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya two years later cemented its significance. Yuri managed his growth spurt better than other skaters when it hit, but in a cruel twist, he ended up with a stress fracture from overtraining.  Yuri barely spoke at the hospital except to loudly insist that Otabek continue his season without him. Otabek knew better than to argue.

After Otabek's free skate at the Grand Prix Final, Yuri surprised him by showing up rinkside, even with his leg in a cast. Otabek ran over and hugged him so fiercely that Yuri dropped his crutch. Winning a gold medal that night didn't even compare to hearing Yuri's "davai" and seeing that familiar thumbs-up.

>   1. _Your grandpa kept insisting that I propose to you. He helped me pick out the ring._
>   2. _Your cat also wants me to propose to you. She and I have had many conversations about this._
>   3. _If you marry me, I will stop being a nervous wreck trying to figure out how to ask you to marry me._
>   4. _If you marry me, I will be the happiest man in the whole world._
> 


"Hey."

Otabek reflexively crumpled up the paper in his fist when he heard Yuri's voice. He kept the paper ball hidden behind him as he whirled around in his computer chair. "Yuri, I didn't know you were home."

Yuri shrugged. "I wasn't trying to be quiet. I guess you were just really focused on your writing. What are you working on?"

Otabek shoved the paper ball into his pocket. "Nothing."

Yuri stared at him.

"Grocery list," Otabek said.

"Whatever." Yuri pulled a red box out of his own pocket and tossed it to Otabek. "Wanna get married?"

Otabek looked down at the box then back at him.

"I mean, it's not a big deal or anything," Yuri babbled, looking away as his cheeks reddened slightly. Some things never changed. "Just, like, tax benefits and stuff."

Otabek broke into a wide grin. Yuri never failed to surprise him.

"And we need to show people that it's possible to still be awesome after getting married, unlike a certain lame-ass cheesy couple we know."

Otabek continued grinning at him without saying a word.

"Why are you looking at me like that? God, you're so embarrassing sometimes."

"Can't help it," Otabek said. "I love you."

"How am I supposed to do _anything_ when you're looking at me like that?"

"Get used to it. I'm marrying you." Otabek held out his left hand, palm down.

"You gonna put the ring on, then, or are you gonna keep making me stand here like a fucking idiot?"

"You're supposed to do it."

Yuri rolled his eyes and got down on one knee. "The things I do for you, Beka."

"Throw jewelry at me and roll your eyes?"

Yuri sighed, took his hand, and looked up at him. "Look. I love you. I don't have a speech prepared."

"You don't need one," Otabek said, caressing Yuri's cheek. It was written all over Yuri's face: the way his expression softened looking up at Otabek, the faint redness in his cheeks, and the tiniest droplets forming in the corners of his eyes that he would never in a million years admit to.

Yuri concentrated on putting the ring on Otabek's finger like it was an especially challenging chess match, but Otabek guessed his struggle was from trying to force the droplets back into his tear ducts through sheer willpower. The ring, a thin silver band with three diamonds in the center, glinted on his hand, understated in its beauty.

"It reminded me of you," Yuri explained. "You like simple, so I went with simple."

"It's perfect," Otabek said. "Can you wait here for just a second?" He rushed over to the other end of the room to fish the black ring box out from its hiding place, giving Yuri enough time to surreptitiously wipe his eyes. Otabek kneeled down in front of Yuri and opened the box with a sheepish grin.

Yuri burst out laughing. He couldn't hide the fresh tears that formed this time.

"You always beat me to the punch." For a second Otabek considered pulling the crumpled paper out of his pocket but decided against it. "You amaze me every day, Yuri. I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with."

As soon as the ring was on, Yuri lunged forward and knocked them both over to kiss his future husband senseless.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you cried during our proposal," Otabek said later when they came up for air.

"I didn't cry, shut up."

 

While doing the laundry the next day, Otabek emptied the pockets of a pair of jeans and found the crumpled paper. Beneath his penciled list, Yuri had scribbled a second list in messy blue ink:

> _REASONS I SHOULD MARRY OTABEK:_
> 
>   1. _Because I want to._
> 

> 
> _P.S. Yuri's pirozhki > Otabek's pirozhki, I don't care what Dedushka says_

 

 

**FIN**

**Author's Note:**

> [Come say hi on my shiny new tumblr! (@fakeplasticsnow)](http://fakeplasticsnow.tumblr.com)


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